After last week’s “Down Time” column, I had a few people reach out. I mentioned that we always have athletes gearing up for important races ahead, so I don’t take a break after a major race. A couple people said, “but coach, you need to take down time too!” And there were a few related (in my view) questions about how to take a break in the very fast-paced lives that we all lead, not necessarily specific to training, but rather to work and the other demands of life. I know there are some coaches who read this as well, and I think what I am going to write about applies to others who are balancing busy lives in an era where the workday never seems to end.
First off, I do want to acknowledge that as a coach or person working a busy job, you do need to find down time as well, though it may look a little different than a total break from training that you take at the end of a season. You may not have the same cycle of peak followed by down time and regeneration, but don’t forget that it’s important for you to find those periodic breaks where you can focus on other things and find some relaxation. It’s important for coaches, but it is true of any job or pursuit. Breaks and periods of regeneration can revitalize and improve our work and our experience.
Every coach is different – some are coaching just a few months of the year, and can perhaps get away with a very intense focus on the sport during that period, knowing that there are months of the year where they will not be doing it. But if you’re coaching year-round, you will need to set up some structures and boundaries that make your coaching life sustainable. I’m not going to give you any rules to follow here, as everyone is different. But I will encourage you to pay attention to your mood, energy, and performance as it relates to your coaching, and note how those things change as you try different methods of unplugging from your work duties.
Some people may function best with a couple of weeks of a full break every so often, a time when they are not engaged in coaching activities at all. Others manage to structure their weeks in such a way as to build in sufficient time focused elsewhere to maintain their enthusiasm for coaching without time fully off. Whatever your situation, the best way to know and understand is to pay close attention to the way that you are feeling. Coaches, like most runners, often just want to push through. But that can lead to poor mood, irritability, difficulty focusing, and a whole range of symptoms that sound suspiciously like over-training. Just as you would tell your athletes to take time to recover, build it into your work schedule, whether you are a coach or doing another job.
A few things that I have found very helpful for maintaining a healthy relationship with coaching/work are listed below. Again, this is not prescriptive, but just an example of what works for me.
1) Start and end the day with non-work activities. For me, that’s mostly reading. Sometimes it is literally 5-10 minutes of reading a novel or a memoir as I drink my morning coffee, but I think it sets me up well as I am thinking about something outside of my immediate world. This, I think, helps provide some perspective. The contrast between starting/ending the day with this vs. email or Instagram is pretty dramatic.
2) Find meaningful pursuits outside of work. I love running, and sometimes I feel like I could just talk and think about it all the time. However, that does lead to a loss of perspective and eventually a dulling of the excitement and joy that the sport brings me. About 3 years ago, I started rock climbing. This pursuit has given me a new social circle, a different and exciting physical and mental stimulus, and an ability to feel truly in the moment that is rare. There’s nothing quite like being far off the ground, on the edge of one’s own skills and abilities, knowing that the precision of your movements will either keep you moving upwards or experiencing an adrenaline-inducing fall.
3) Plan and schedule coaching/work time. As an independent coach, I used to just write training plans and schedule check-in meetings whenever and wherever in my week. I still like to be flexible and adaptable in my schedule, but I make a good effort to preserve specific times to take care of the majority of specific tasks. For me, this has meant less evening scrambling to get things done while I could be spending time with my family. I can’t say that I never work at night, but I am aware of it and trying to minimize the interference between coaching work and family life.
4) Schedule down times within the week. As a coach, I am often very busy on weekends. That’s when the races are happening, Sunday is team long run day, and it’s also usually the time to solidify or modify training plans for the upcoming week. Knowing that, I have a couple of half days during the week where I don’t have standing commitments, and I try to keep them that way. I can’t say that I’m just chilling during those times, but I know that for me, some alone time is really important, so I try to keep some times where I can be by myself and without immediate work demands each week.
5) Get away for a few days. Every so often, it’s important to unplug completely. This one is probably the biggest struggle for me and one that I don’t do with much regularity. Generally, when I am traveling or even vacationing, I aim to be engaged and available to the athletes that I coach. However, maybe once or twice a year, I will have a a few days where I let people know that I will out of communication for a few days, and I try to stick with this.
These are a few things that work for me as a coach. Again, this is not a prescription to follow, but rather just a personal example. Hopefully you found something that is useful to you!
